Always You and Me
by Strawberry Shortcake123
Summary: Part two of Our Eternity trilogy. Can stand alone. Max and Fang are seventeen and trying to give the flock and their kids the normal life they've been denied. Will new obstacles and an old enemy threaten their happiness? Fax.
1. Prologue

**Hey, guys! Here is the prologue of the sequel to Becoming You and Me, which ended the day before yesterday. I would **_**recommend**_** reading BYAM, but you can understand this story without it. So. Up to you! : )**

**Disclaimer: I own Gracie and Devin, but nothing else in this story.**

I crossed my arms, surveying the living room, looking for anything we had missed. I'd already double- and triple-checked, but I wanted to be sure. I was, after all, the paranoid Maximum Ride. Even on moving day.

"Boo."

Strong arms snaked around my waist from behind at the exact moment a low voice spoke in my ear, and I shrieked and jumped three feet in the air. The voice-- which belonged to my stupid boyfriend-- chuckled.

"Fang," I grumbled, trying to wriggle out of his embrace but failing. "Cut it out."

"Nope." He pulled me back against him and kissed my cheek. "You're tense."

"No freaking duh," I snapped. "We're about to move back into civilization with our family of misfits and two kids who we're expected to provide for when we have no education or and therefore no way to make money!"

Okay. I think it's time to inform my dear readers what exactly is going on here, no? To put a long story short, I'd been in hiding with Fang, our flock and our two kids for the last three years. Fang and I were seventeen now, and the twins, Gracie and Devin, were six. No, we did not have children together when we were eleven. They are ours, though. The nut jobs at the evil science lab we grew up in took our DNA and created our children in test tubes. Isn't that special?

We could have come out of hiding three years ago, but it wasn't like we really had anywhere to go, so we stayed put. Now, in light of Gracie and Devin being kindergarten age, we decided to move to a town, let them start school, and attempt to live a normal life.

"It'll be fine," Fang told me, still holding me tight in his arms. I relaxed, leaning back into them. "We've always got your mom to fall back on. She's paying the first few months' rent for the house, anyway."

I sighed and closed my eyes. I wasn't exactly thrilled about her doing _that_ much. "Maybe we should stay here."

"We agreed to give the kids the most normal life possible," Fang said patiently. "Education is part of that."

"I know," I said, and I did. He was right. Still, the closer this got, the more skeptical I was.

Footsteps pounded on the floor overhead, and I rolled my eyes. "Speak of the devils."

Sure enough, two seconds later, the feet were running down the stairs, voices calling out.

"Mommy! Devin hit me!"

"No I didn't!"

"Ugh," I groaned. "Not right now."

Fang released me and backed away, and I immediately missed his warmth. Gracie and Devin came wheeling around the banister, pushing and shoving each other out of the way.

Gracie ran up to me, holding out her arm. "Devin hit me right there!"

Devin hid behind one of Fang's legs but poked his head around to glare at Gracie. "Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did _too_!"

"Shut up!" I yelled, and silence fell, my voice echoing off the ceiling. As three faces turned toward me-- everyone knew who wore the pants in this family-- I inhaled deeply, then exhaled, trying to keep my patience.

"Guys, Mommy's sort of stressed right now," Fang said, taking each of their hands. "Let's not bother her, okay?"

"Oh," Gracie said, looking up at me with her eyes wide and innocent. "I'm sorry, Mommy."

I reached down and ruffled her head of bouncy black curls. "It's okay, sweetie."

"You two come with me," Fang said, starting to walk away, pulling the kids along with him. "We'll make sure you got all your stuff packed."

They followed him, beginning to chatter happily. Just before they stepped onto the stairs, he looked over his shoulder, grinned, and mouthed, _Love you._

I smiled back, suddenly feeling very sappy. _I love you too._

**How about a review to kick off the story? : )**


	2. Chapter 1

**Since nothing really happened in that prologue, I'm not making you wait too terribly long for the second update. First real chapter! Yay!**

"Max. Max, come on, get up."

"Go away," I groaned, holding my pillow over my face. There was sunlight surrounding me, but all I could think about was how much I wanted to go back to sleep.

"No," Fang said, fighting me for the pillow and winning. "We have to take the kids to school, remember? And then we have to go to work."

_Kids, school, work… _These three words floated around in my head for a few seconds before they began to make sense. Today, the end of the second week of our settlement in Tucson, Arizona, near my mom, was also the first day of school for the younger kids. It was too crowded to fly, so Iggy was walking Nudge and Gazzy to the middle school while Fang and I took Angel, Gracie and Devin to the elementary school. And then, because we didn't think ourselves capable of actually getting an education, Fang and I had managed cashier jobs at a grocery up the road. It was a start.

"Fine," I grumbled, throwing off the covers and climbing out of bed. Fang kissed me, squeezed my shoulder, and left so I could get dressed. I sighed and pulled on some jeans and a t-shirt, then headed downstairs, where I could hear laughter amidst silverware clanking against plates.

"Max!" Nudge said happily when I came in. I managed to smile at her as I sunk into a seat. "I'm so excited! Eighth grade! That's almost high school! I can't believe _you_ guys aren't going to high school. Normal people say it's just the very _best_!"

"Well," I told her, picking at the bacon Fang slid over to me, "Fang and I aren't really interested, and Iggy…"

"Is lazy and doesn't want to do the work," he said, stuffing a spoonful of eggs in his mouth.

"Yeah. Big surprise there," I sighed.

I felt Fang's eyes on me from across the table, but I looked down at my plate. He could tell something was wrong with me, just as easily as he always did. In fact, he probably knew exactly what it was. Sending the flock off to school, I could deal with-- I'd had to do it once before, at Anne's. But Gracie and Devin were a different story. While I felt totally maternal around the flock, the twins were my _real_ kids, so with them, it was ten times what it was with the others. So I was dreading taking them to kindergarten, their first step away from me.

"Angel, are you ready?" Fang asked. I looked over at her. She was nine now, and was absolutely beautiful. Once upon a time, she'd been my baby; now, she was Miss Independent. It wouldn't be long before my own kids were there, too.

Angel smiled and took her plate to the sink. "Yeah. Let me just get my backpack."

"Okay," he said as she darted out of the room. "Gracie? Shoes on?"

"Yep!" she said proudly, holding out her feet.

"Devin?"

"Got 'em!"

This was a routine we'd sort of fallen into: Fang took charge more often than he used to. Usually, I stayed in my leader role, but if I was worn out or busy or, like this morning, troubled, he stepped up. I was glad; as much as I didn't like sharing my job, the more time I spent with my twins, the more I was finding I needed it.

"Let's go," Fang said, coming up behind my chair and taking my hand. "Nudge, Gazzy, have a good day."

Nudge's excited response mixed with Gazzy's mumbled one, and the five of us headed out the front door. Angel crawled into the back seat of the car my mom had insisted on giving us ("It's just an old one, I don't even drive it anymore") and I strapped the twins into their car seats. Oh, and in case any police officers are reading this, just know that Fang drives us around, because he does have a license. Based on my prior experience with driving, we decided I shouldn't even bother with it.

As the three kids started chattering excitedly about the day ahead of them, Fang returned to his normal silent self. When I sighed, though, he reached over and took my hand, casting me a look that said, _It'll be okay._

I squeezed back and nodded. _I know._

The elementary school was big, three stories tall. There were lots of other parents around, leading their kids into the school. Seeing such a huge, scary place with tons of people around automatically put me on guard, and I shot Fang a worried look. He shook his head and motioned for me to get out of the car.

I did, and before we got the kids out, he came over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist, leaning his forehead on mine. "Relax, Max."

"How can you be so calm?" I demanded. "We're putting them in the hands of strange people we've never met!"

"I'm not calm," he said in a voice that seemed, to me, perfectly so. "I'm freaking out inside. But I know we have to give them an education, and I also know that there's no danger anymore. There hasn't been for three years, Max, not since you took down Chu. Just chill, okay?"

I sighed, hating that he was right but knowing that he was. On all counts. "Fine. Let's do this thing."

Fang flashed a half-smile and released me, opening the back door of the car. Gracie was already climbing out of her car seat, pulling her small purple backpack behind her. Angel helped Devin undo his seat belt, and then they both crawled out.

"Wow," breathed an awed Angel. "It's so big."

"Sure is," I said with a sigh. Fang took my hand and laced our fingers together, and Devin came up on my other side to take that hand.

We took Angel to her fourth-grade classroom. While we stood outside the door, she politely told me that she could go in by herself, and I almost started crying. But I didn't. Instead, I kissed her forehead and told her to have a good day.

Then we headed toward the kindergarten class, which was what I really dreaded. From a full ten feet away, I could hear the cries of children-- and mothers-- who wanted to go home. The only composed woman near that room was probably in her thirties, and she was wearing a name tag.

Figuring she must be the teacher, I went up to her, clutching Devin's hand a little tighter with each step. She smiled at me, then at the twins, and said, "I'm Mrs. Montgomery. Are these kindergarteners?"

"Yes," I said, looking down at them. Gracie smiled at the teacher and waved, while Devin started to inch behind my leg, his eyes narrowed.

"Well, let's see if they're in my class," Mrs. Montgomery said, peering at the piece of paper in her hand. "Names?"

I automatically tensed when she asked for information, but Fang answered. "Gracie and Devin Ride."

No matter what he said, it sure seemed to me that he didn't really mind putting our kids in the care of strangers. Old, cynical me thought over this as the teacher scanned the list of names, then looked up with a bright smile. "I have them both. Why don't you two say good-bye to your parents, and then I'll show you the classroom?"

"Bye?" came Devin's tiny voice from behind me. "Where're you going, Mommy?"

I sighed and knelt down in front of him, smoothing down the blonde hair sticking up on his head. "Daddy and I are leaving you and Gracie here for a while, but we'll be back to get you later."

All Devin heard was 'leaving you.' He burst into tears and threw himself into my arms, wailing, "Mommy, I don't want you to go. Can't you take me with you?"

At that moment, as my heart broke at my little boy's scared, pleading voice, I was just about ready to whisk away him and Gracie and never look back at this place, but then Fang caught my eye. He knew exactly what I was thinking, and he shook his head.

I sighed and gently pried Devin off of me, then leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "Keep your wings in. Love you."

Then I turned to Gracie, who was considerably less freaked. She smiled and hugged me, then turned around and hugged Fang's legs. "Bye, Mommy, bye, Daddy!"

"Bye, baby," I said, attempting to mirror her smile. I stood up and watched Fang scoop Devin up and murmur in his ear. After having cold feet when we first found out we were parents, he had really turned into a good dad.

Mrs. Montgomery looked at me sympathetically. "It'll get easier."

I managed to nod before returning my attention to Fang, who was now lowering a slightly calmer Devin to the ground. The teacher motioned for them to enter the classroom, then turned to us and said, "I'll see you this afternoon."

"Thank you," said Fang, but all I could do was watch my children walk away from me, head to another setting where I couldn't be there to protect them. "Max? Let's go."

I couldn't move. I heard him exhale loudly, and then he gently turned my shoulders toward the exit. With one last desperate glance over my shoulder, I let him lead me away.

Once we were outside, Fang asked, "Max, what is _wrong_?"

"I just don't like this," I muttered, feeling the wetness beginning to well in my eyes. Embarrassed, I swiped at them, but it was too late. Fang had seen. He pulled me over to a bench and sat down, pulling me onto his lap. I buried my face in his shoulder and started sobbing like I hadn't since-- well, probably since the incident on the beach, with the seashell.

"Shh," Fang whispered, rubbing between my wings with one hand and stroking my hair with the other. "It's okay. They're gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay."

"I don't want them to grow up and leave me, Fang," I choked out.

"They're only six," he said. "We have twelve years left. Hell, between now and then, you'll probably wish they were out of the house a million times."

I laughed weakly, and I felt Fang grin as he kissed my head. Today, he knew how to make me feel better just as well as he did ten years ago. "You're right."

"Of course I am. Now come on." He gently nudged me off his lap, then stood up, holding his hand out to me. "We've got places to go."

**Thanks for all the reviews last chapter, there were a lot! I appreciate every one, truly. And I LOVE getting them. Hint, hint. : D**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hey, guys! Okay, well, I updated three days ago, and I probably won't keep updating quite this quickly. But this is a celebratory chapter. Why?**

**Because yesterday, before I went to school, I finished this story. And I was really excited, because I've been working on this since early December. I'm not sure why I didn't put it up yesterday, but here it is now!**

**On a side note-- does anybody else just LOVE Jason Aldean? The country artist? Just wondering.**

I groaned as I finally shut the door to Nudge and Angel's room. It had been a long day, starting with taking the kids to school, then having to shadow a grumpy cashier at the grocery, now this. For the last hour, I'd been trying to get Angel to go to bed and Nudge to get off the phone with the friend she'd met only that day. Somewhere in the middle of this ordeal, Fang and Iggy had disappeared, leaving me alone to deal with it. Now, I took off to find my boyfriend and chew him out.

As I neared the twins' room, though, I heard his voice, soothing, soft-- his reading voice. I smiled, leaning against the closed door. Every night, Fang read a book to the twins before they went to sleep. It was a habit they'd gotten into a couple years ago, and it went on so long that Gracie and Devin couldn't go to sleep unless Daddy read them a story.

I slowly pushed the door open and stepped into the room. Fang looked up and flashed a quick smile, then returned to the book he was reading. He was stretched out on his side along the edge of Gracie's bed with her curled up against his shoulder and Devin leaning over his sister in order to see the book.

It was so incredibly freaking _adorable_.

"And the toad and his friends lived happily ever after," Fang said, and shut the book. I applauded, and the kids looked up, surprised-- they hadn't heard me come in. Then Gracie wriggled away from Fang and held her arms out to me. "Can I have a hug, Mommy?"

"Sure, hon," I said, sitting down on the bed. She crawled into my arms and I held her small, warm body against me, breathing in the scent of the strawberry shampoo she had fallen in love with, courtesy of Nudge.

"Me, too!" Devin said, throwing his arms over the both of us. That kid had a chip on his shoulder, but he sure loved his family.

I looked over the kids' shoulders to smirk at Fang. "Come here, Daddy."

He hesitated, then sat up and wrapped his strong arms around us in a group hug. I was in the middle, both the kids sort of balanced on my lap, and he was behind me, resting his chin on my shoulder, encompassing all of us in his embrace. I loved my flock, my mismatched family of six kids from different places, different backgrounds, but with the family created with pieces of Fang and I, moments like this just made me so, so happy.

"Okay," I said after we'd disentangled ourselves from the Kodak moment. "Time for bed, you two. You've gotta go back to school tomorrow."

"I liked school," Gracie said cheerfully, crawling under her covers. "There's this nice girl there. Her name's Lindsey. We played together at recess. I like her."

"Good." I smiled, but had an image of a teenage Gracie and Lindsey running off to a party while I stood in the doorway and wondered how my little girl had grown up so fast. "Well, I'm sure you two will have a lot of fun tomorrow."

"Gracie wouldn't play with me," Devin griped, climbing onto his own bed. "No one else would, either."

I looked down at Gracie as she held her stuffed lion securely to her chest. "Can you and Lindsey play with your brother tomorrow?"

She wrinkled her nose for a second, then said, "Okay."

"Good girl." I leaned over and kissed her forehead, then watched Fang do the same thing. I moved over to Devin's bed and dropped a kiss on top of his head. "Make sure those silly girls play with you, buddy."

"I will," he said determinedly, shooting Gracie a look.

"Okay. Good night, guys."

I waited in the doorway for Fang while he ruffled Devin's hair and plugged in the kids' night light. When he came back over to me, wiping his hands on his jeans, he gave me a little half-smile, and my heart sped up.

After saying our last good-nights to the kids, we headed down the hallway in silence. Our rooms were right across the hall from each other, so we often stood between them before bed and kissed goodnight.

I stopped with one hand on the door of my room and looked at Fang. "'Night."

"'Night." He took a step closer, reaching up with one hand to caress my cheek. "I love you."

I grinned, never getting tired of hearing that. "I love you too."

He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine, then to my nose and forehead. My eyes fluttered shut, taking in the tender kisses. "We have work tomorrow," he murmured against my skin.

"Great," I sighed.

"And the kids have school."

"Dandy."

"Long day." Fang lowered his head and kissed me on the mouth once more, this time lingering for a few seconds. "But at least I'll be with you."

**So, mostly fluff. Something happens next chapter, don't worry. Review?**


	4. Chapter 3

**Guess what? THREE people said they also LOVE Jason Aldean! That made me happy. : D**

"Can't you attempt to do something to support this family?" I snapped into the phone. It was only eleven in the morning, but it was already looking like it was going to be a long day. "I mean, you have twenty-four hours a day on your hands. Make yourself useful."

"I don't know what to do!"

"It's called a job. And there are plenty out there where vision is not a necessity," I said, glancing over at Fang. He was sitting against the wall with a soda in his hands, smirking as I carried on my conversation. I made a face. "Look, Iggy, can you not call me to complain that you're bored and waste my break?"

"Fine," Iggy sighed. "Have fun at Groceries 'R' Us."

"It's called Gertrude's Groceries," I said, but he had already hung up. I rolled my eyes and put the payphone back, then sunk down beside Fang. "I'm working my butt off and he's at home watching TV, and _he_ wants to complain to _me_."

"I wouldn't exactly say you're working your butt off," Fang said, amused. "I mean, we have three hours left, including our lunch break, and we only had to go two hours before this break. And in the meantime, all you're doing is pushing buttons on a cash register."

I punched him in the arm. "Shut up."

He laughed and pulled my head into his shoulder, kissing the top of it. "So how does it feel being a high school dropout making minimum wage?"

"I'm not a dropout," I grumbled. "And we're not making minimum wage."

"I think it counts, since you went to school for a couple months in ninth grade. And seven dollars an hour… it's close enough."

I was quiet, staring at the wall opposite us. Finally I said, "Fang?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think this is enough to actually _support_ the flock? You know… to be totally on our own?"

He paused, swiping some hair out of my face. Then he said, "I think we're going to have to depend on your mom for a while, Max, even though I know you don't want to."

"I was afraid you'd say that. But you're right." I sighed and thought a little bit more. "What about college? For the others, I mean. I'm not going."

Fang shrugged, jostling my head. "If the flock wants to go, they're probably going to need loans and stuff. With Gracie and Devin, maybe Angel, we have time to figure something out."

"Max!" I looked up at the loud voice of Marie, the fifty-year-old cashier who was mentoring me. She came around the corner, her face pinched and stern. "Your break's over. Fang, yours too. Back to work."

We stood up as Marie disappeared again. Fang leaned over and kissed my forehead, then muttered, "You know what?"

"What?"

"We don't have to worry about any of that right now. Day by day. That's what we've always done, isn't it?"

"Yeah," I said as he held my cheek, lifting my face upward to press his lips to mine. "Day by day."

0000000000

I sighed, looking at the clock. 1:45. Fifteen minutes to freedom… fifteen minutes to freedom…

"Max!" snapped Marie. "What are you doing?"

I jerked out of my daze and turned to her. "What?"

"Your customer?" she asked, motioning across the counter. I looked over there and realized a woman was standing by an empty cart, items piled up on the conveyor belt.

"Oh, sorry," I said, grabbing the first item, a box of Cheerios. "How are you today?"

"Fine, thanks," the woman said, and I nodded, on autopilot, as I'd already fallen into during my few days at this grocery store. I started scanning groceries, each one clicking, as the phone rang. Marie moved behind me and answered the phone.

I thought nothing of it, sacking all the items and giving the woman her total. As I counted out her change, though, Marie said irritably, "Max, it's for you."

I handed the customer her change and took the phone, ready to chew out Iggy's butt for bugging me _again_. As I opened my mouth to start in on him, though, an unfamiliar voice on the other end said, "Ms. Ride?"

"Um, yeah," I said, moving out of Marie's way so she could take the next customer. "Who is this?"

"This is Dr. Clement, the principal of Desert Elementary School," the guy said. As soon as I heard the kids' school's name, I started looking around for Fang. He was nowhere to be seen. "I'm calling about your son, Devin."

"Is he okay?" I asked. Marie glanced back at me, her face softening into concern.

"Oh, he's fine," the principal said. "As for the boy he punched, his nose is gushing blood."

I closed my eyes, putting a hand to my forehead. Five days into his school career, my son had already swung a punch at somebody. Actually, on second thought, it was surprising it had taken this long. "Do I need to come get him or something?"

"We'd like to discuss this with you, yes," Dr. Clement said. "When can you come in?"

"Like, half an hour?"

"That's fine. Just come to the office; I'll wait there with the boys."

"Okay," I sighed. "See you then."

I hung up and turned to Marie. "Okay, it's, like, seven minutes to my break, can I go?" As if I'd stay if she said no.

She hesitated, beginning to look strict again. On the paperwork when we applied, we'd written that we were twenty-one, which made it look like the kids were born when we were fifteen. When the manager had shown Marie my application, with me standing there watching, she clucked her tongue in disapproval when she saw all our ages. Still, I could tell she had a soft spot for kids when she said, "That's fine. Is Fang going with you?"

"I think he better," I said, and hurried down to Fang's station, check-out number eight.

0000000000

The first thing I saw when Fang and I walked into the school's main office was Devin, slouched in a chair, pouting. It was a look I'd seen many, many times; it was the look he always had when he was in trouble.

Beside him was another little boy, this one with brown hair, who was scowling and had a few crooked teeth. I had a feeling this was more due to that punch, which was much stronger than a normal six-year-old's, than having jacked up teeth.

"Ah. Mr. Ride, Ms. Ride."

A middle-aged man, who I supposed was Dr. Clement, came out from his office and addressed each of us in turn as he shook our hands. When that was over, I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows at Devin. "So," I said, still looking at my son but talking to the principal, "what's the story here?"

"Why don't we go into my office and have Devin tell you?" Dr. Clement suggested.

So we went into the office. Dr. Clement invited Fang and I and sit down while the boys stayed standing. Once we were all settled in, the principal said, "Devin, let's hear your side of the story."

Devin, still pouting, said, "Brendan was taking Gracie's blocks. She tried to take it back and he hit her hand so she dropped it. So I punched him."

I bit my lip. This was actually my fault, because what I constantly told Devin was that he could _not_ hit family, but anyone else was fair game, because in our lives, danger was in the most unexpected places. But Fang was probably right-- there was no danger anymore. It was time to raise our kids normally, even in the small ways.

"Devin," I said, turning in my chair to face him, "we don't hit. Anybody. _Ever_. Okay?"

"But you said--"

"I know what I said. I'm changing it. Do not hit. Got it?"

Fang turned to me and raised his eyebrows in a sarcastic wow-good-job way. I smacked him lightly on the knee.

"Brendan." Dr. Clement addressed the other boy, who was rubbing his bruised nose. "Did you try to take something from Devin's sister?"

"I _asked_ for it," he said.

"He did not!"

"I did _so_!"

"Guys, guys, stop." The principal jumped out of his seat and went to pull the boys away from each other. "Brendan, go outside and sit in the time-out chair. Devin, stay in here. We need to have a discussion with your parents."

I winced and inhaled deeply. The truth was, if they wanted Devin in some special behavioral class or something, they'd want to know if he had had a childhood trauma that was causing this. And I couldn't tell them what that trauma was.

Fang, knowing why my muscles were tense, reached over and intertwined our fingers. I looked at him miserably, wanting nothing more than to grab my kids, knock out the lone window in the room, spread my wings and fly away.

"Now," Dr. Clement said, sitting back down in his seat, having closed the door behind Brendan. "First I'd like to know how often Devin exhibits this kind of behavior at home."

I bit my lip, looking at Fang out of the corner of my eye. Rarely did he hit someone at home, because he trusted all of us. But I'd taught him to be paranoid when dealing with strangers, so if someone touched him or Gracie in a way that was the least bit threatening, he would fight back. Gracie was more forgiving, but I suspected Devin had undergone more testing and hardship than she had at the School, based on the number of scars on his skin compared to hers. Finally I said, "Not often."

He looked at Fang for verification, which made me mad-- like I was incapable of figuring out my own kid's behavioral patterns. After Fang simply nodded, Dr. Clement said, "Well, if he doesn't do this often, I suppose we can let him off the hook this one time, as long as he understands that this can't happen again."

I looked at Devin, raising my eyebrows at him. He averted his dark eyes. "Got that, buddy? No hitting. At all."

"Okay," he muttered, looking at his feet. I turned back to Dr. Clement.

"Well," he said, standing up, "I guess we're done here. Devin, I'll take you back to class now. Mr. and Ms. Ride, have a good day."

"Thank you," I said, waving, and we left the office and exited the school.

We went all the way to the car before we spoke. As he started the engine, Fang said, "Do you think we should be worried?"

I closed my eyes, exasperated, and leaned back in the passenger seat. "Day by day, Fang. Day by day."

**Told you something happened!**

**Ya'll know by now how much I love reviews…**


	5. Chapter 4

About a month later, in October, my mom and Ella came over to have a big dinner with us. We made heaps and heaps of food, and they brought some too, and we just sat around the table and ate, one big happy family. It was great, and it made me so glad I'd moved us down here, despite my money worries and Devin's little outburst.

After dinner, though, my mom subtly motioned me and Fang into the living room. I ordered Nudge to make sure my kids didn't destroy the kitchen and Iggy to wash the dishes, and we followed her out there.

"Dinner was good, Max," Mom said, smiling softly at me.

I smiled back and plopped down on the couch. "I wish I could take credit, but it was all Ig."

She chuckled slightly, but her eyes had taken on a more serious look. "Here, honey. Sit down."

We sat down on the couch, and I motioned for Fang to sit on my other side. He did, looping an arm around my waist and pulling me closer to him. As my mom watched, I wriggled, embarrassed, but then she smiled in an isn't-that-just-so-adorable way.

"So," she said, folding her hands in her lap. "I have something for you two."

"What is it?" I asked, furrowing my brow. I watched as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. Even before she unfolded it and lay it on the coffee table, I knew what it was, and my gut clenched.

"No, Mom," I said, picking up the check and handing it right back to her, not even looking at the amount. "We've already taken a lot from you. I don't want anymore until it's absolutely necessary."

Mom shook her head, getting a look on her face that showed up all the time on mine, one that meant she was determined and _would not _give in. "You're two kids," she said slowly, pointing at me and Fang with two fingers on her left hand, "taking care of six other kids. You work at a grocery store. If Nudge wants to go to college, you'll have to pay for that in four years. You _need_ this money, Max."

I sighed, looking at the check. The amount was $20,000, which just about made my eyes pop out of my head. What was I supposed to do with that? I mean, we had to spend a lot of money on food, with our 4,000 calorie intake and all. But food shouldn't cost us _that_ much… right?

"Cash it," Mom said, reading my expression. "And use it as you need to. There's plenty where that came from. I make a lot of money, and I've been saving large amounts since Ella was born, just in case."

Still beside me, Fang rested his chin on my shoulder, both of us looking down at the large check I held in my hand. I didn't want to take it. For five years, I'd been providing for my family. Why wouldn't I be able to now?

"You _need_ it," she said again, and that extra push made my decision for me. Not the decision she was hoping for, though.

"No," I said, giving it back to her. "Look. I'm going to take what we've already gotten from you-- the house, the car, all that. But what we spend, until we're absolutely, positively broke, is going to be our grocery money."

Mom opened her mouth to argue, but then thought better of it. In the end, this was a contest of stubbornness, and I was always the victor of those. Always. "Fine. Just promise me you'll ask for help when you need it, okay?"

"Okay." I nodded. "I will."

"Thank you." She reached out and smoothed some of my hair, and I thought about where I was: on a couch, in the arms of the boy I loved, with a mother who adored me stroking my hair. As a child in a dog crate, I never would have thought I'd be right here. "So. How have my grandchildren been lately?"

"Fine," I said. "Devin hasn't punched anyone else, anyway."

"Well, that is a plus. What about the flock? Are they enjoying school?"

"Oh, Nudge _loves_ middle school. It's totally her thing: girls running around yapping their jaws, worrying about their clothes, obsessing over famous teenage guys. Gazzy and Angel really like their schools, too." At Fang's low chuckle right in my ear, I added, "Apparently one of Gazzy's farts set off the smoke detector at his school."

Mom's eyebrows shot up. "Oh… my."

"Yeah," I said, laughing. "He's a--"

There was a loud crash from the kitchen, cutting me off. I sat up and looked over there, but all I could see was the closed door before I heard Iggy's voice. "Nudge, you were supposed to be _watching_ them."

"I was!" she protested. "Gracie wandered off over here and Devin went over there… they're, like, two places at once! I don't have eyes in the back of my head!"

"Just get them out of here," Iggy sighed, and then there was some shuffling around. "Guys, go find your parents."

Not three full seconds after he said it, the twins were running out of the kitchen and over to us. Gracie climbed into my lap and Devin hoisted himself into Fang's.

"What happened?" I asked them. "Devin, what did you break?"

"A plate," he said sheepishly. "It was slippery."

I nodded and looked down at Gracie, running my hand through her hair, not having enough energy to scold him.

"Ooh, Mommy," she said suddenly. Over her head, I could see my mom smiling at the four of us, a real family with a mom and a dad and a couple sweet kids. "I forgot to tell you."

"Tell me what, baby?" My fingers snagged in a tangled curl, and I gently worked them loose.

"In school, this other teacher came today," she said happily as I continued to fix her hair. "Mrs. Montgomery said she was supposed to help her become a teacher, so she'd be helping us."

"Really," I said, barely listening.

"Yeah. And, and she's really nice. She gave me a lollipop. Her name's Ms. Drison."

For some reason, the name sounded familiar, and then I realized why: Drison. Dwyer. They were, like, the same first syllable, just with different endings.

I gritted my teeth at the thought of Brigid Dwyer, the scientist who'd flirted with Fang even though she was _seven years older _than him. Of course, this had nothing to do with the innocent student teacher-- I mentally reminded myself that if I ever met this lady, I needed to not shoot her dirty looks.

"That's neat, honey," I said, mostly succeeding in pushing the bitterness out of my voice. Fang, being able to read me so well and all, heard it anyway and smirked. I punched him in the arm.

"Ow," he said exaggeratedly, falling back on the couch. "Guys, Mommy hurt me."

"Poor Daddy," Gracie said, moving onto his lap and patting his arm gently.

"Oh, you're fine," I told him, standing up.

"I need a kiss to make it feel better," Fang pouted.

I shook my head and smiled, leaning over the kids to press my lips to his. "Better?"

He grinned hugely. "One more."

**Okay, so I think the end is just so so so so so cute!**

**Review?**


	6. Chapter 5

**I'm ill. : (**

**No fun.**

**I don't think I've ever sneezed so much in my life…**

"They need new clothes."

I looked up from the calculator and glared at Fang. "Shut up."

"Max," he sighed. "Come on. Everyone has, like, three pairs of jeans and three shirts."

"Do we _need _more than that?"

"If we want to be _clean_, we do." He stood up and walked over to me. We were on our break, but instead of arguing with Iggy about getting a job, Fang was trying to convince me to at least take some of my mom's money. Personally, I felt that if we had shelter, transportation, and food, we were fine. But for some reason, Fang insisted that the normal life thing included more than three outfits. "Listen. Your mom is more than willing to give us money. Why aren't we taking it? We agreed to try out this normal life thing. Normal kids don't have to wear the same outfit every other day."

"Every _third_ day," I snapped, but he was right. This _wasn't_ normal. I mean, it was the most normal lifestyle we'd ever experienced, but most people wouldn't consider it normal. Most people also probably didn't have pride to protect.

"It's okay to admit you need help," Fang said softly, brushing my hair off my shoulder. I glared at the calculator still in my hand, which featured a negative number-- how much money we'd have if we used our grocery store earnings to buy the amount of clothes Fang said the eight of us should have.

"I can take care of the flock," I told him determinedly, pocketing the calculator and that negative number. "I always have before."

"That was when we were on the run," he continued, gently, as if knowing he was one step away from making me explode. "You needed to make sure we all survived. And you were brilliant at that, Max. But, you know, normal people survive with _money_, not by kicking bad guy butt. That's just the way it works."

I sighed and rested my forehead against his shoulder, leaning into him. He raised his hand to stroke my hair, using the other to rub the small of my back. "I just want to do it myself," I told him, my voice muffled by his green smock.

"I know." Fang pressed his lips against the top of my head. "But you were like this when I realized I loved you, remember? I kissed you and you ran, because you were just so used to being independent. You eventually accepted me, though, and everything worked out. Right?"

I nodded into his shirt but didn't look up.

"So this will, too."

"It's embarrassing," I muttered, "not to be able to take care of my family."

"But you are taking care of your family," he said soothingly, kissing my head again. "You're still a mother-- to the twins _and_ to the flock-- and the leader. They understand that you're doing everything you can. No one will think any less of you if you take that money."

I sighed and stood up, his arms slipping from their place around me. "Fine. We'll take _some_ money and buy everyone some nice clothes. But that's all I'm doing for now."

"That's fine," Fang said, a half-smile appearing on his face.

"I mean it."

"I know you do."

Marie suddenly appeared in the doorway behind him, and I glanced at the clock, only to find that we still had ten minutes of our break left.

"What--" I began, but I stopped at the look on her face.

"You have a phone call," she said flatly, then turned on her heel and left.

Fang and I exchanged a look, and I wondered who the heck would be calling me. "I'll be right back," I told him, and then hurried after Marie.

The phone was laying speaker-up on the counter when I got there. I dodged a screaming little kid to lean over and pick it up. "Hello?"

"Would this be Ms. Ride?"

"Yes," I said slowly, wondering why this voice sounded so familiar. "Who is this?"

"Dr. Clement, the principal at Desert Elementary."

Just like the first time he'd called, my heart leapt into my throat, my mind raced, thinking something had happened to one of the kids. Then I remembered _why_ he'd called the first time: Devin's behavior. "Oh, hi, Dr. Clement. Did Devin punch someone again?" I asked, half-joking.

The reply had no trace of humor in it. "Yes, actually, he did. And this time, it was the student teacher."

I slapped my forehead. _Devin, _I growled in my head. "I'm so sorry about that. Do you need me to come for another meeting?"

Dr. Clement sighed. "Not at this point. The only reason I had you come the first time was because the incident occurred so soon after school started, and we wanted to know if this was an issue at home. I'm dealing with his punishment here at school, but I'd appreciate it if you could enforce it at home."

"Yes, of course," I said through clenched teeth, not liking the sound of someone I didn't even _know_ telling me how to raise my kid. "Well, have a good day, Dr. Clement."

"You too, Ms. Ride. B--"

I didn't even hear the last word, instead putting the phone back on the rocker, hard. Marie glanced up at me, but I didn't even acknowledge her as I headed back over to Fang, who was now standing only a few feet away.

"What was that about?" he asked as I leaned on the wall beside him.

"Devin hit the student teacher," I sighed.

His eyebrows shot up, and he stood up a little straighter. "He _hit_ her?"

"Yes! A _teacher_! What kind of control do we have over our kid if he's hitting the person in charge?"

"You know," Fang began in a teasing tone, "_you_ used to hit the person in charge."

I lifted my chin and said melodramatically, "Well, I'm a changed woman."

We looked at each other for a second, and then we both burst out laughing, failing so miserably to stand upright that we had to stumble into each other's arms.

0000000000

We waited until after bath time. And then we dealt with Devin.

After the twins had put on their pajamas, I handed Gracie her hairbrush and told her to go have Nudge brush her hair. Then Fang and I went into the twins' bedroom, where Devin was sitting on the bed with one of his favorite storybooks in his lap.

"Hey, buddy," I called softly.

He looked up, then smiled. "Hi, Mommy, hi, Daddy."

"How was school?" Fang asked mildly, leaning on the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest. I went further into the room and raised my eyebrows at Devin, daring him to lie to us. That was how we enforced discipline: Fang eased it out of them, I made sure we were getting the full story.

"Fine," Devin said, but hid his face, looking down at the book.

"Anything interesting happen? How's that student teacher?" Fang pressed.

Devin hesitated, but scowled. Then he looked up and said, "She's really mean."

Fang and I exchanged a glance: bingo.

"How is she mean?" Fang pushed off the frame and crossed the room to sit down beside Devin. I sat on our son's other side and gently took the book out of his hands.

"She, well, she told me to share the dinosaur, and then she took it from me. But I wanted it, so I tried to take it and she hit me!"

"_She_ hit _you_?" I asked angrily, momentarily forgetting why we were discussing this in the first place. Over his head, Fang shot me a look, and I quickly added, "What did you do?"

"Hit her back," Devin said in a 'duh' tone that normally would have made me laugh.

"What did we tell you about hitting?" Fang said sternly.

"But she hit me first!" he protested.

"I doubt she did."

I stood up and motioned to Fang. He stood up and followed me, and I turned back at the door. "Be right back, Dev."

Once in the hallway with the door shut, I crossed my arms and said, "I'm not punishing him for defending himself."

"He's exaggerating, Max," Fang said. "She probably just nudged him a little to make him give it to her, and he's using that to wiggle out of trouble."

"Whenever we've seen him and Gracie hit each other, what he tells us is exactly what we saw," I said. "I think we need to check out this lady."

"Max, she's a _teacher_. A _student_ teacher. Abusing a kid would lead to her never getting a real teaching job."

"I don't think he's safe there!"

"I think you're being paranoid!" Fang sighed in exasperation and drew me forward, holding me in front of him with one arm around my shoulders. "Listen. Three years ago, everything was a threat. Not anymore. We are _completely_ safe, Max. So safe that what we need to think about now is how to get Devin in line. Okay?"

I opened my mouth to reply, but he was looking at me so intently that I realized it would be useless. So instead I just shrugged my shoulders and said, "Okay. Fine. We'll let him know this isn't okay."

The bad feeling in the pit of my stomach stayed, though.

**Dun dun dun.**

**Who do you think is right? Fang? Max? No one? Let me know… in a review! : D**


	7. Chapter 6

**Whoa, many reviews last chapter! Thank you muchly… : )**

**Anybody read City of Ember? I posted a drabble over in that section, if you're interested. Just throwing that out there.**

**Disclaimer: I only own Devin and Gracie.**

Apparently, "living normally" means "let's dress up and go to stranger's houses and take their candy which could very well be poisonous!"

"This is insane," I griped as the kids milled around the living room, grabbing shoes and jackets. "This has got to be the stupidest tradition I've ever heard of in my _life_."

"Would you shut up?" Fang asked as he stared into the mirror in the foyer, smoothing down a cowlick. "It'll be, like, two hours."

"How do they even know about this?" I went on. "How do _you_ know about this?"

"Nudge heard about it at school and wanted to do it, so we're all going." He shrugged. "That's all."

"We'll ring a doorbell, be whisked inside, and never come back," I muttered darkly under my breath.

"Again," Fang sighed, "the world is not out to get us."

I opened my mouth to give him a reply laden with cuss words, but Gracie, wearing one of her two nice dresses, which she was calling her princess costume, bounded up, and I quickly shut my mouth.

"Mommy, I'm excited," she gushed, bouncing up and down. "This is already so much fun!"

I returned Fang's 'told-you-so' smirk with a scowl, then smiled down at Gracie. "Well, I'm glad, sweetie!"

She held out her arms to me, and I just had to scoop her up. As I held her on my hip, she giggled and tugged on a strand of my hair. "I love you."

"Love you too, Gracie." I kissed her forehead as Fang came up behind her and wrapped his strong arms around both of us.

"Daddy!" she shrieked, wriggling between us.

He chuckled and kissed us both. "There's my girls." After he kissed me, he nuzzled my cheek and whispered, so quietly, "Who I won't let anything happen to."

Ugh. Stupid macho man.

0000000000

Okay, so it wasn't absolutely _terrible_. In fact, it was actually sort of fun. I mean, the kids-- including Iggy-- had a great time, and even got enough candy to fill their huge bird kid appetites. And all I had to do was linger a few steps behind, holding Fang's hand.

We didn't get home until ten, which normally would have irritated me, but it was a Friday night, so nobody had to wake up in the morning. We let the kids eat and trade candy for a while, but by eleven, I was tired, so I told my kids to get their pajamas on and the others not to stay up too much longer.

After I tucked in Gracie and Devin and kissed Fang goodnight, I changed and crawled into bed myself. It'd been a long day, what with taking the kids to school, going to work, and the trick-or-treating thing. I was ready for a nice, long, ten-hour-sleep.

I closed my eyes.

"Max."

It seemed like I had _just_ fallen asleep when the voice jerked me awake, but a glance at my digital clock told me it was one in the morning. Groaning, I rolled over from where I had been sleeping on my stomach. "What?"

"Mommy." I heard the small, scared voice before I saw Fang, standing over me looking worried as he carried Gracie, whose arms were reaching for me. Upon seeing her arms and her tear-stained face, I immediately sat up and took her into my lap.

"Baby, what's wrong?" I whispered, gently pressing her head into my chest.

She tried to reply, but her words came out as choked sobs and stutters. I looked up at Fang, still standing beside us, watching. "Nightmare," he mouthed, and I nodded.

"It was just a dream," I soothed, rubbing Gracie's back. Her tears were soaking through my shirt, but I didn't mind; I just held her tighter. Fang sank down beside us and took her little hand, rubbing it between both of his large ones.

We consoled our daughter for maybe fifteen minutes before she started hiccupping out distinguishable words. "There was a, a b-big, hairy m-man… a-and he a-attacked me… and then, then… it a-ate me…"

_Eraser._ From the moment Gracie started talking about a big, hairy man, that was the only thing I could think. An Eraser. It had to be.

Then the rest of the dream hit me. The Eraser had attacked Gracie. It sounded just like my childhood.

I cast Fang a worried look over her head, but for some reason, he didn't seem as freaked as I was. How could he not? This wasn't the first time the twins had had nightmares with connections to the School. And last time, three years ago, the dreams had turned out to be warnings.

"Well, it's not real, sweetheart," I cooed, and she nodded into my shirt. "Everything's okay. Mommy and Daddy are here."

"I wanna sleep with you tonight," she slurred, her eyelids already drooping.

I caught Fang's eye, and he nodded. I gently hoisted Gracie out of my lap and lay her in the center of the bed, and Fang and I curled up on either side of her. With our eyes looking out for her and our arms protective around her, she drifted off to sleep calmly and peacefully.

When her breathing had been even for about five minutes, I said, "That thing she described sounded an awful lot like an Eraser, Fang."

"Erasers haven't existed in years, Max," he murmured, not taking his eyes off Gracie's sleeping face as he brushed her hair off her forehead.

"Well, what else could it have been?"

"Maybe she saw someone dressed up as a werewolf tonight and it freaked her out." He shrugged. "I don't know. But human kids have nightmares too, Max, and they aren't signs."

I glared at him. "When did you become Mr. Optimist? You used to be more paranoid than me!"

Fang sighed and took my hand. "For whatever reason, I'm having an easier time letting go than you are."

Something about that sentence struck a nerve, and I snapped, "I'm worried about our kids' safety, Fang. Last time they had School-related dreams, it was to warn us of what would happen if I didn't give myself to the School!"

"And you went to the School and defeated Mr. Chu," he said with exaggerated patience. "There is no threat anymore, okay? Besides, if these were the same dreams, Devin would have had the same one."

"Yeah," I said skeptically, looking down at Gracie. I wouldn't let anything happen to her. I couldn't. What if, by ignoring this, I ultimately got her hurt or killed? I wouldn't be able to live with myself. "I guess."


	8. Chapter 7

**Alright, guys-- I have an announcement.**

**This is a trilogy. Meaning there's a sequel to this story.**

**This has been in the works almost since I started writing Becoming You and Me, but I didn't say that there would be two sequels to BYAM in case my obsession with Maximum Ride went away, which my obsessions always do.**

**I was right-- about halfway through writing this story, I lost interest. But I'd written so much, so I kept going. Then I didn't tell you guys anything about the story after this one, in case I couldn't find it in me to write a whole other story when my heart wasn't in it.**

**But I've managed to do it-- the final part of the trilogy is about halfway finished. So I figured the chances are pretty good that I'll finish, and it's safe to announce now.**

**Anyway, that's what's happening. Onto the chapter!**

On Monday, I was standing on a ladder, stocking high-up shelves. Apparently I had mouthed off one too many times-- Marie really needed to chill-- and had been sent away from the cash register.

My break had been moved back an hour. During our normal break, Fang appeared at the bottom of my ladder, crossed his arms, and looked up at me. "Hey."

"Hey," I said, shoving a couple more cans onto the shelf. "How's it going?"

"Fine. How's it going up there?"

I scowled and picked up another can. "Just freaking dandy."

The next time I took a can, Fang whisked it right out of my hand and held it out of my reach, smirking all the while. I reached forward, straining, holding onto the ladder with one hand. "Fang, give me that, you idiot."

He continued to move it around, my hand not quite able to keep up, and I just leaned further and further to the side and tried not to laugh.

And then, suddenly, I wasn't on the ladder anymore. I felt my foot slip, my legs fly out from under me, and then I was barreling forward, toward the tiled floor, everything seeming to go in slow motion.

When I hit the ground, landing on my back, pain shot through my ankle as it rolled. I moaned, and Fang's worried face appeared above me. "Oh man, Max, I'm so sorry."

"I hate you," I ground out through gritted teeth.

I felt him tug off my shoe and sock and gently touch my foot. "It's swelling."

"It _hurts_!"

He put his head right above mine, guilt all over his face as he lowered it to kiss my cheek. "I'm sorry. Seriously."

"Okay, that's great, could you help me?"

Fang sighed and turned to examine my ankle again. "I think you sprained it pretty bad."

"Just help me up, I can get back to work," I said, though my foot still hurt like hell. I tried to stand up, holding onto Fang's arm. The second I let go, though, I fell to the floor.

"Come here," he said, stooping down and scooping me up in his arms. "We're going to have Iggy bandage you up."

"Let me down," I said, slapping him. Luckily, there was almost no one in the store-- this was our least busiest time of day. Fang ignored me and started down the empty aisle, leaving my ladder and canned food behind. "Fang, we need this money. I can work."

"I'm finding Marie and telling her we're leaving," he said, not listening to me at all. I sighed, knowing I was going to lose this battle, and started doing calculations in my head, dreading having to ask my mom for more money.

0000000000

It took about an hour of shrieking, cringing, cussing, and calming shoulder rubs from Fang, but I finally got my ankle wrapped up. After I assured him that I was okay, he went back to work, and returned at the normal time with a pair of crutches he got on employee discount.

Later, Fang left to get the twins and Angel from their school, and Iggy went off to start cooking something fancy for dinner. I lay on the couch with my bad ankle on a pillow and watched the old TV my mom had given us.

Sometime in the middle of a show, my mind began wandering. We were struggling with money as it was, even with the limited amount I was accepting from my mom. With me apparently not able to work-- Iggy said that if I tried to walk on it at work, it'd get so bad that it would never completely heal-- we had an issue.

I tried to think of jobs I could do from home, or even on my crutches, to bring in some money, but came up with nothing. Or maybe-- and I liked this idea enough that I got an evil smile on my face-- Iggy could take my job over for the next three weeks.

"Oh, Iggy!" I called sweetly.

A second later, he stepped out of the kitchen. "What?"

"You're taking over my job while I'm hurt," I said in a teasing sing-song voice. "Starting tomorrow. Fang and my evil instructor will have to show you the ropes."

A look of horror passed over Iggy's face. "You're kidding me."

"Nope."

"But how am I supposed to do that? I'm blind!"

I rolled my eyes, returning my attention to the TV, and spoke with finality. "You can do it, Ig. All you do is press buttons. It isn't difficult."

Despite my tone, he stayed in the kitchen doorway, gaping. I narrowed my eyes and waved my hand, forgetting he couldn't see it. "Shoo, shoo."

Grumbling to himself, Iggy turned and went back into the kitchen, the door shutting loudly behind him. As I chuckled to myself, the front door opened.

"Mommy!" Gracie rushed to my side, her black eyes wide and worried. "Daddy said you were hurt. Are you okay?"

I smiled at her, trying not to wince as Devin came up and touched my ankle. Angel peered over the back of the couch and apparently determined that I was okay, because she quickly wheeled around and ran to her room. "I'm fine, honey."

Still, she looked skeptical, and I said, "Why don't you go help Iggy make dinner?"

Her face lit up; she loved cooking, and Iggy totally had a soft spot for her, not that he'd admit it. She ran into the kitchen. Devin hoisted himself onto my thighs and started watching the TV. I craned my neck and looked up at Fang. "Hey."

"Hey." He reached down and squeezed my shoulder. "How's it going?"

"Fine for me. But Iggy's going to take over my job while I'm out. So you have to help him out for a while." I smirked as Fang grimaced. "Good luck."

"You suck," he said, but at the same time he came around the arm of the couch, gently lifted my head, and sat down, nestling my head in his lap. "I guess you're kind of like the housewife, now that you're going to be home all the time. Wanna do my laundry?"

Even in the tired, injured state I was in, I managed to reach up and slap him upside the head. "Shut up, you sexist pig."

Something on his face changed, and I furrowed my brow. "What's wrong?"

"I stopped by your mom's on the way back from the school."

"Why?"

"Um…" Fang had that 'how do I say this without making her mad?' look on his face. "She… insists that we buy insurance. For all eight of us."

Insert curse word of your choice here.

**Filler-ish. Next chapter's Fax-ish.**

**Review?**


	9. Chapter 8

**I'm posting sooner than usual because I felt like it after getting FANG in the mail from England today. Mwahahaha.**

**It's, uh… interesting.**

**Anyway. I got a couple reviews mentioning that Max's ankle wouldn't usually take three weeks to heel, since they heel so fast… I probably should have figured something else out, but I needed an excuse for them to get insurance and sort of stabilize their financial situation… yeah…**

**This seems like a good time to mention, as well, that I realize the rest of the flock is barely in this story and wasn't in Becoming You and Me much, either. That's definitely a weak point, but I had my plot and I didn't really know how they fit into that. So… just some background info there!**

**Anyway… onward!**

I was the owner of eight medical insurance plans.

A girl with a sprained ankle.

And the mother of a future delinquent.

There were only two days left of school before Thanksgiving break, and as I sat on the couch at home with my ankle up, I was just praying that Devin would make it to the holiday without punching anyone.

Around noon, though, the phone on the table beside me rang. Grimacing, I picked it up and answered. "Hello?"

It wasn't the school, but from the tone of Fang's, "Hey," I figured there was something up.

"What's going on?" I asked.

He sighed. In the background, I could hear Iggy saying, "How are you today?" which was too polite to sound natural coming from his mouth. "The principal called. Devin punched the student teacher again, apparently in the jaw. And, uh, they want us to come get him. He's suspended until school starts again after break."

I sat up on the couch. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah."

I shook my head, growling under my breath. It was hard enough adjusting to this normal life thing, with our money issues, having to work, and my ongoing battle with my mother over that stupid check. The last thing I needed was a problem child. "I'm gonna take him down."

Fang chuckled. "I'm going to get him now. Try to calm down a little between now and when we get home, okay?"

"Okay," I sighed, falling back against my pillow. "But you might want to stand in front of him when you come in, in case I feel like kicking some six-year-old butt."

0000000000

"You're in trouble."

Devin slumped in the kitchen chair I'd sat him in, crossing his arms over his chest. I was in a chair across from him-- I would have been pacing, but there was the pesky ankle issue. So I was sitting, Fang beside me for moral support, with one of Iggy's spatulas in my hand, which I was using for emphasis.

"You are," I repeated, waving the spatula one way, "in _so_--" I waved it the other way. "Much trouble." And I held it out in front of me, pointing right at him.

"But, Mommy," Devin began, but I cut him off.

"Tell me what happened, okay? Start to finish."

"Gracie yelled because someone threw a toy and it hit her," he said, all wide-eyed innocence. "Ms. Drison grabbed her by the neck, and I thought she was going to hurt her. So I hit her in the face to make her drop Gracie."

My next scolding was on the tip of my tongue, but just as it was about to come out, I quickly thought back over what he'd said. "Wait, she grabbed your sister by the _neck_?"

Devin nodded fervently.

"Are you telling the truth, Devin?" Fang asked sternly.

"Yes!"

Fang and I exchanged a glance. I believed him. Judging by the look on his face, Fang didn't. With our eyes, we silently conversed for a minute. Then I nodded, deciding to let Fang have his way for now, and turned back to Devin.

"You can't keep hitting people," I said, and pointed the spatula in the direction of the hallway. "Go up to your room, and stay there until someone calls you down for dinner."

Still pouting, Devin stood up and stomped out of the kitchen. I tilted my head back, looking up at Fang, who had moved behind my chair. "That went well."

"Yeah."

"I'm kind of… concerned about what he said about the teacher grabbing Gracie, though," I said, biting my lip as an image of someone holding my little girl by the neck and slamming her against the wall played through my brain and made my blood boil.

Gazing down at me, Fang brushed his thumb over my cheek. "I think he's exaggerating."

"I really don't think he is, Fang." I sighed and straightened up, then grabbed my crutches and stood. "We should at least check her out."

"We are not checking her out."

"Since when are you the voice of authority here?" I snapped.

"I'm not," he said automatically. "But think about it. You go charging off, like always--"

"I do not--"

"Yes you do. You charge off, burst into that kindergarten classroom, and push that poor, defenseless twenty-five year old up against the wall. And then you get arrested. Now what?"

I scowled at him. "I just think we need to--"

"Here's what I think." Before I even knew what was happening, Fang was gently pulling one crutch, then the other, from under my arms. I stumbled, but didn't have time to fall, because he scooped me up and put me on the counter. When I opened my mouth to protest, he cut me off. "In about two hours, Iggy will get off work and come home. Until then, we're alone."

Against my will, a smile crept onto my face. "Are we, now?"

"Yeah." He rested one hand on my thigh, right above my knee, and slipped the other behind my neck. "We are."

I tilted my head up, searching for his lips, but I couldn't quite reach them. Chuckling quietly, Fang leaned down and closed the gap for me. The moment our lips touched I wound my arms around his neck, and giggled when I felt him smile.

We went on kissing for a while, me on the counter and Fang in front of me. It'd been such a long time since we'd had enough time to just be together. It seemed like we were always at work, or arguing about money, or dealing with the flock and ki--

"Mommy? Daddy?"

I reluctantly broke away from Fang, who growled under his breath. I hopped off the counter and went to stand at the end of the hall. "Yeah?"

"Am I allowed to go to the bathroom?"

Fang's eyes met mine across the room, and we both rolled them. Foiled again.

**Heh. Silly Devin.**

**Review, please!**


	10. Chapter 9

**It's only been two days since I last updated, but updates are going to be really fast now-- I'm so far on the third part of this trilogy. I've written ten chapters already this month. And I'm happy to say that the loss of my obsession (which has actually come back here recently, since I got FANG and all) has not, in my opinion, made my fan fiction any worse.**

I woke up in the middle of one night with a parched throat. I got up and reached for my crutches, then remembered that Iggy had deemed my ankle healthy earlier that day, and I was good to go. Reveling in my freedom to walk on my own, I walked out my bedroom door with a skip in my step.

As I passed the twins' room, I heard some shuffling on the other side of the door. I paused and stepped back, pressing my ear up against the door. And then I heard Devin's whisper. "Gracie? Gracie?"

There was a pause, and then Gracie yawned, "What?"

"Are you okay?"

Furrowing my brow, I pushed open the door, wondering why Gracie wouldn't be okay. I saw Gracie in her bed, looking up at Devin, who was leaning over her. They both looked fine, and I mentally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Guys," I whispered, startling them both, "what's going on?"

Devin shifted his gaze away from mine. "Nothing."

"Devin," I said sternly, "tell the truth."

He sighed and rubbed his neck, looking so much like his dad it almost made me smile. Then: "I had a bad dream."

My heart stopped, then started back up again. "What-- what kind of dream, sweetie?"

"Gracie was standing there, and this wolf thing went up to her and grabbed her, and--"

"Hey!" Gracie interrupted as I mentally started freaking out. "That's just like my dream!"

"Well," I said, quickly changing the subject, "do you want to sleep with me, Dev?"

He opened his mouth, his lips poised to say the word _yes_, but then he glanced at Gracie, snuggled up in her bed and falling asleep again. A look of what I can only describe at protectiveness crossed over his face, and he shook his head. "I'll stay in here."

"You sure?" I asked gently, putting my hand on his shoulder, touched that he wanted to look after his sister.

"Yeah."

So I tucked him in and kissed both of the twins, told them I'd see them in the morning, smiling the whole time. As I shut their door behind me, though, I felt the tears rushing up, and I covered my mouth with my hand to muffle a cry. And I ran to the room of the only person I wanted to be with, my thirst long forgotten.

"Fang," I hissed, shaking him. "Wake up!"

"What?" he asked, sitting up. "What's going--"

I hurled myself into his arms, burying my face in his chest, and started sobbing. This had never happened before. I had not shed one tear three years ago, the first time these dreams had cropped up, or when they had returned a couple months ago, or even when I ultimately had to leave my whole family because of them. Now, though, I had been pushed too far, stretched in too many directions. I was at my breaking point.

"Max," Fang whispered in my ear, lifting me into his lap and continuing to hold me tight. "What's wrong?"

"Fang," I said, my voice breaking. I took a moment to gather myself, and then went on weakly. "I'm scared."

I couldn't remember using that word before. Ever. Sure, I'd said I was worried, concerned, even freaked-- but never scared. It sounded foreign as it slipped off my tongue, like another language I could barely speak.

"Why are you scared?" he said softly, rubbing soothing circles between my wings. Even though his voice was soft, I didn't miss the alertness in it-- he knew that if I said I was scared, it was bad.

I started mumbling and stuttering like an idiot, cursing myself because I couldn't entirely understand why this had me in tears. Seeming to understand me, like always, Fang slowly laid me down in his bed, then pulled the covers up to my chin and tucked them carefully around me.

"Do you want a drink or something?" he asked after he had kissed my forehead.

"No," I muttered, pulling on his sleeve. "Just stay with me."

He didn't need to be told twice. With my fist still closed around the fabric of his shirt, he slipped under the covers and curled up beside me. For a few minutes, we lay with no sound around us except my occasional hiccups. When all my tears had been shed, though, Fang whispered, "What was that about?"

I swallowed. "Devin had the same dream Gracie had. Where she died."

As much as he liked to pretend he didn't, I knew Fang still had some of his old paranoia in him, and the way he stiffened and tightened his grip on me proved it. "Was he in it this time?"

"No," I said. "Just her."

He looked thoughtful, but didn't say anything.

"Maybe they're just after her, and not Devin, for some reason," I mused. The thought should have occurred to me earlier, but I suppose I'd been too hysterical to think straight. "Maybe… maybe it's like before. Maybe I need to leave to protect--"

"Max, no," Fang said sharply, grabbing my chin and turning my face up so I was looking right at him. "You don't need to leave. In fact, we need you _not _to leave." Closing his eyes, he pressed his lips to the tip of my nose. "You cannot do that to me again."

I sighed as his hand found mine beneath the blanket. Stupid Fang and his stupid ability to use mushiness to convince me. I wasn't giving up, but… I guessed I could leave it alone for tonight. "Okay," I said finally, and snuggled closer.

He nuzzled his face in the crook of my neck, and, in a warm breath that washed across it, murmured, "Go to sleep."

"Okay," I said again, and did just that, forgetting all about the dreams.

**Sort of fluffy filler. Sort of foreshadowing, too, if you remember Becoming You and Me… hint, hint…**

**Review?**


	11. Chapter 10

**I did an outline for the third part of this trilogy yesterday. It's gonna be 23 chapters plus an epilogue. Right now, I'm working on Chapter 15.**

**This next story is really different. Lots more Gracie. Lots more Devin. Lots more Fax. Lots more drama. Lots of a lot of stuff. Maybe I'll post an excerpt, if you guys want one. I'd face to find a place without huge spoilers…**

**Anyway. Enough rambles. Enjoy!**

Back at work. Joy.

Actually, I'd been back for about two weeks, but I was still having trouble adjusting. After spending weeks doing nothing but laying on the couch watching TV, going to work every day-- and in the midst of the Christmas season, no less-- seemed like cruel and unusual punishment.

Now, there were four days to Christmas, so the store was _packed_ with people rushing to get the last turkeys, looking for toys on sale, and stocking up on food to feed visiting relatives. At some point, I was going to use my employee discount to buy a few gifts for the flock and kids, but as of yet, I hadn't had the time.

"Hi, how are you?" I asked a lady with three screaming kids as I began to ring up her load of toys and different kinds of cookies.

"Good, thanks," she said, trying to pull a toddler's fingers away from her earrings.

I nodded and started bagging her items, glancing at my watch as I did. It was only 10:35. Ugh…

The phone rang behind me, and I reached back to pick it up. "Gertrude's Groceries, lane thirteen."

"I'm forwarding a call," came Marie's very irritated voice, "from your child's school, Max."

I grimaced. Before I could say anything to her, though, I heard Dr. Clement. "Is this Ms. Ride?"

"Yeah," I said, ripping the receipt from the printer and handing it to the woman.

"Devin hit the student teacher, Ms. Drison, again," he sighed. "I'm afraid I need you to come in."

"Um, can I come in later?" I asked, turning my head to look at my ever-growing line. "I mean, I'm at work, and--"

"I need you to come in now," Dr. Clement said firmly. I exhaled loudly. "I have a busy afternoon, with break beginning tomorrow, and we can't wait until after break. This needs to be resolved right now."

I sighed. "Okay, fine, I'll--"

"And Mr. Ride needs to come in, as well."

"What?" The next woman in line was glaring at me, because I hadn't even started ringing her up. I looked behind me at Fang, whose line was even longer than mine. "That's not really--"

"Ms. Ride, this is necessary. I'm hoping that if we discuss this now, you and Mr. Ride can use the holiday break to control him at home, which will hopefully change his behavior at school in the second semester."

I started to say that my son didn't need to be _controlled_, thank you very much, but decided that the guy was already kind of sick of dealing with my problematic child, so I shouldn't pick a fight. "Yeah, okay. I'm leaving right now."

"Thank you," he said, but I was already putting down the phone and pulling out my 'This Register is Closed' sign.

"I'm sorry," I called out to everyone in my line, who saw the sign and started grumbling. The first woman in line, whose groceries were all on the counter, waiting for me, shot me the dirtiest look I'd ever received. And trust me, I have received some nasty looks.

I took off my smock and bunched it up in my hand, then hurried down toward Fang's register. On the way, I passed Marie's, and she said, "Max, where do you think you're going?"

"I have to go to Devin's school," I told her. "And Fang has to come, too."

"And what do you expect us to do with all these customers?" It was an open-ended question, but there was clearly only one right answer.

"Uh, I don't know…"

Marie leaned toward me, her eyes narrowed, mouth pressed into a long thin line. "I should go tell our manager to fire you. And he will do it."

"Please don't," I pleaded, now bordering on going insane. "I need this job. But the principal of the school says I have to--"

"Max!" I whirled and saw Fang rushing up to me, dodging carts and people. I craned my neck to find his lane: his line was even longer than mine. He reached me and grabbed my arm. "What's going on?"

"We have to go up to the kids' school," I sighed. "Devin hit the teacher again."

"Hey!" someone in Marie's line yelled. "Are you going to help us?"

She scowled at both of us. "Fine, you two go on. Come in tomorrow for your normal shift, but stay afterward-- we're going to discuss your future as cashiers here."

"Alright," I said, hardly bothered, my mind only on Devin and getting out of this chaotic place. "Let's go, Fang."

0000000000

During the drive to the school, I mustered up so much anger and determination that by the time we got there, I was ready to end this once and for all. I got out of that car, shutting the door hard behind me, and strode quickly toward the front doors, leaving Fang to scramble to catch up to me.

"Max," he said in a warning tone, grabbing my hand as he blocked my path. "Calm down."

"We've just possibly lost our jobs, Fang," I snapped, trying to sidestep him, but he mirrored my movement. "I have some words for Devin, and then I have some words for the stupid principal for making us come here!"

"Just don't make a scene, alright?" Fang asked.

I looked at him as he waited for my reply, still holding my hand. Who _was_ this guy? Our entire childhood had been about making a scene. Was this normal life stuff making him forget that, along with where-- _what_-- we came from? Who we were? Did he no longer understand my need to protect and provide for my family? I hated to think that this might be true; he was the only one who had ever gotten me, through and through, and I knew I could never find another guy who did.

"I can't promise you that," I said airily, and stuck my nose in the air and brushed past him.

Without another word, we entered the school and headed for the office. Dr. Clement was waiting for us with Devin and a young woman with a big red mark on her face who I presumed to be the student teacher.

"Hi again," Dr. Clement said, shaking my hand and Fang's. I was biting my tongue, trying to remain civil, but then I noticed the student teacher. She looked familiar…

"Hi," she said, extending her hand to me. Her voice… "I'm Ms. Drison."

Then it hit me. That name, which had reminded me of another the first time I heard it. Her face, her voice, her long red hair…

It was Brigid Dwyer.

**WHOA.**

**Okay, that's not actually that big of a shock… a lot of you guessed it a few chapters ago when Gracie first mentioned the student teacher… the little clue I dropped as to who it was apparently wasn't all that little…**

**Anyway, how about a review?**


	12. Chapter 11

**I have one review reply-- to Claire Elizabeth, who inquired about how I got FANG: I bought my copy from a British guy on eBay… there were several copies for sale, you should check it out and see if there are any copies left.**

**At the bottom is the excerpt of the next story that some of you asked for!**

"No _way_," I spat, and then Fang grabbed my wrist, knowing I was having trouble staying still. Brigid obviously knew who I was-- and wasn't surprised-- and took a few steps back.

"We're going to talk this through rationally," Dr. Clement said slowly. "Okay?"

"Okay," Fang said.

I just seethed in Brigid's direction, knowing that she was behind all this. She was Mr. Chu's accomplice, finishing what he had started when I thought I defeated him three years earlier. Fang poked me, hard, in the back, and I spat, "Okay."

We were led into the office, where Fang and I sat across from the principal, and Brigid sat in a chair a few feet away from us. Devin stayed standing, and I pulled him by the sleeve to the side of my chair furthest from Brigid.

"Ms. Drison," Dr. Clement said, shuffling some papers on his desk, "why don't you tell Devin's parents what happened half an hour ago?"

"Okay," Brigid said, folding her hands in her lap. For one quick second, she raised her head and shot me a victorious smirk. I almost lost it right there, but Fang quickly grabbed my knee and squeezed it. "Well, Gracie was on the monkey bars at recess, and she fell. I went over to help her up and see if she was okay, and Devin came up and punched me in the face."

"Thank you, Ms. Drison," the principal said with a nod. "Devin, why don't you share your side--"

"She _pushed_ Gracie off the monkey bars!" Devin interrupted, pointing an accusing finger at Brigid.

At that point, no amount of Fang's comforting gestures could stop me. "You _pushed_ her?" I asked incredulously.

"I did not push her," she said calmly.

"Mommy, she did," Devin told me, and I believed him with one look at his face. He'd been telling the truth the whole time. I should have defended him to Fang more; this whole thing could have been avoided.

"Enough," Dr. Clement boomed suddenly, effectively silencing everyone. "Devin, tell us your story from beginning to end."

"Gracie went on the monkey bars ahead of me, and I was waiting, and _she_ came over and shoved her off! So I slugged her!"

"Devin," the principal said sternly, "slugging people is not appropriate behavior for school."

"But she hurt my sister!"

My heart swelled up with pride at Devin's loyalty to Gracie. If Fang and I couldn't be there with her, I knew Devin would take good care of her.

"I think you and I both know that Ms. Drison was only trying to help your sister, Devin," Dr. Clement said.

"I think _you_ and I," I said to Brigid, "both know that you _weren't_."

Dr. Clement took a long look at all four of us: Brigid glaring at me, me clenching my fists, Fang looking up at the ceiling, and Devin pouting. "Alright," he said finally. "I'm going to fetch Gracie. We'll ask her." He picked up the phone on his desk and pressed a button. "Stacy, it's Dr. Clement. Could you please get Gracie Ride from Mrs. Montgomery's class? Yes. Yes, thank you."

While we waited for Gracie, an uneasy silence fell over the room. I kept my gaze trained on the floor, my arms crossed tightly over my chest, angrily thinking about stupid Dr. Amazing ten feet from me, endangering my family, and how I couldn't do anything about it. About five minutes later, the door behind me creaked open, and I turned to see Gracie stepping hesitantly inside.

"Hi, Gracie," said Dr. Clement. "We just have a quick question for you."

"Um, okay," she said uneasily, looking around at all of us. I smiled encouragingly at her. "What is it?"

"Did Ms. Drison help you up when you fell off the monkey bars today?"

There was obviously something she wanted to say but felt that she couldn't. She opened her mouth, took one look at Brigid's face, and quickly closed it. Then her eyes slid over to Devin's, stayed there for a moment, and moved back to Brigid's.

"Be honest, Gracie," Dr. Clement prompted. "We need you to be honest."

Slowly, she shook her head, glancing down at her sneakers. "Ms. Drison pushed me off the monkey bars."

"Told you," Devin muttered.

"Ms. Drison," Dr. Clement said, "these two students seem to have the same story."

Brigid nodded, a big fake smile plastered on her face.

"I still need Devin to go home for the remainder of school before break, but I'm going to have to open an investigation into the matter," he sighed, standing up from his desk. Brigid's face flushed; clearly, this wasn't going as planned. "Gracie, you may return to class."

"She's not returning to class," I snapped, standing up out of my chair, Fang following right behind me. "This has gone on long enough. We're going home." Ignoring Fang's eyes, boring into the side of my head like a laser, I turned to the kids. "Go get your stuff, guys. We're gonna blow this popsicle stand."

0000000000

"There was no need to bring them both home," Fang sighed.

I leaned across the kitchen table between us, glaring at him. "It's _dangerous_ for them to be there, Fang!"

"It's not dangerous," he said. "They've been going there for four months, and nothing's happened."

"Nothing's happened," I scoffed. "Please. Plenty has happened, just nothing _you_ are willing to acknowledge."

"I'm willing to acknowledge that Devin was hitting other kids and the student teacher," Fang said in a very calm voice that made me want to slug him. "Which does not make the _school_ dangerous."

I threw my hands up, completely exasperated. How could he not _get_ this? "The student teacher is _Brigid_, Fang! Hello, Chu's sidekick?"

"We never actually confirmed that," he said, looking down for a second.

I gaped. "Excuse me, but are you taking _her_ side after she's repeatedly tried to injure our daughter?"

"I highly doubt she was trying to--"

"Gracie," I interrupted, hoping to end this before I started crying, "is not going to school tomorrow. And you, for all I care, can go back to Antarctica and cuddle with Brigid, since that's obviously what you want."

I hurried down the hallway, ignoring Fang calling my name, as the tears started creeping down my face. Stupid Brigid. She'd tried to take Fang three years ago, and now, in a different way, she was trying to take my children.

Well, Maximum Ride just doesn't let that happen.

**Here, guys, is your excerpt from the sequel to this story. It's pretty big. Sorry it's not about Max and Fang-- there's pretty much spoilers in every excerpt involving them.**

Another loud giggle broke the silence around him, echoing in the hallway, and Devin stopped in his tracks. He turned to the left and saw the closed door of the janitor's closet, and then another muffled giggle found its way to his ears.

It clicked right away. Devin threw his books down, slamming them on the tiled floor, and marched over to the closet. He grasped the door's handle and threw it open.

Inside was that asshole Markus, sitting on an upside down bucket with Gracie perpendicular in his lap. Their arms, Gracie's left one free of a cast for only a few days, were tight around each other while they totally sucked each other's faces off.

As soon as she saw Devin, Gracie was disentangling herself from Markus and leaping up, holding a hand over her heart and using her other to smooth her mussed hair. But he'd seen enough.

"I thought I told you to stay the hell away from her," Devin barked, stepping up to Markus. Both boys were tall for their age, so they were eye to eye.

"Devin, stop," Gracie begged.

"Why don't you stay out of it?" Markus asked, and reached out, shoving Devin. He shoved back, and just like that, it was on.

The boys wrestled on their feet for a minute, ignoring Gracie's protests, but then Devin got a hold of Markus' wrist and twisted his arm behind his back. At that point, Gracie lunged forward and, with much trouble, pulled her brother off of her boyfriend.

"Markus, go to class!" she commanded while struggling to keep a hold of Devin. Markus hurried out of the closet, shouting a quick "I love you" over his shoulder. Once his running footsteps faded from earshot, she released her brother. "Devin, I cannot believe you."

"Grace, you have to listen to--"

"No, _you_ listen to _me_. Markus made a mistake, but I'm giving him a second chance! And if you even _think_ about telling Mom and Dad, I'll break every bone in your body."

"I'm not telling Mom, but only because she doesn't need the stress. But you better believe I'm telling Dad."

"Devin, please." Gracie was pleading now, tears shining in her eyes as she clasped her hands together. "Please don't say anything. Daddy will try to keep us apart. He won't understand. I love Markus. And he loves me."

**And there you go! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and the sneak peek!**


	13. Chapter 12

**Guys, this trilogy, as a whole, now has a name: Our Eternity. The idea for the name came from UNDERLANDERfromtheOVERLAND, who came up with it after I told her the name of the third story. Which, as I forgot to mention last chapter, is You and Me Forever. So thanks to UNDERLANDERfromtheOVERLAND, because I just love the series' name!**

"Max, wake up. We've gotta go to work."

At first, I couldn't figure out whose voice was above me, and then I realized it was Fang's. I hadn't spoken to him since our disagreement the day before. About an hour after I stomped off to my room, he'd come in and rubbed my back for a while, occasionally trying to talk to me, but I refused. Eventually, he got up and left, leaving me feeling guilty and lonely, but mostly stubborn.

"Okay," I mumbled, rolling over. "Five more minutes."

"No, we're already running late," Fang said, gently pulling my covers off of me. "That's my fault. I--"

Now, detecting something in his voice, I looked up at him. "You what?"

"I just got back," he muttered, moving from the door. "It took longer than I thought."

"_What_ took longer than you thought?" I demanded, standing up and crossing my arms.

Fang nervously ran a hand through his shaggy hair, and I raised my eyebrows, waiting. "I took Gracie out for a flight, and then took her to school."

"You _what_?" I shrieked, enraged. How could he do that? How could he take her someplace dangerous, and _behind my back_, no less? "She's at school?"

"Yeah."

"I am going to wring," I seethed, taking a step forward with each word, "your scrawny little neck."

Fang kept stepping back until his back hit the wall, and I stood on tiptoes to get in his face. "I can_not_ believe you took her to _school_, where _Brigid_ is, _Brigid_, who pushed her off the monkey bars! And behind my back!"

"If it helps," Fang said, "you look really hot when you're mad."

On instinct, I slapped him across the face. He winced and held his cheek. "Guess I deserved that."

"Yeah," I said. "You did." I looked across the room at the clock. It was too late-- we didn't have time to go get Gracie, bring her home, and then go to work. "As soon as we get off work, we're going to the school and getting Gracie. And unless something happens, they are not going back after Christmas. That's the way it's gonna go, no arguments. Okay? Okay."

Without waiting for a response, I shoved him into the hallway and slammed the door in his face. And that, my friends, was Max taking control.

0000000000

We drove to the store in silence. Fang was driving, calm and stoic as always, and I was slouched in the passenger seat, my arms crossed tightly over my chest, seething. When we parked, I got out and slammed the door, then marched past Fang and into the store. He heaved a big sigh, but didn't say anything, and I headed to my register, where I worked alone for the next two hours.

I helped a lot of customers, but I did it in a half-sleeping state, as my thoughts were racing. First, I was worried sick about Gracie and whether she was safe. And then, right behind that, I was wondering what was happening to my relationship with Fang. He used to be just as paranoid as me, and now, he didn't seem worried about anything at all. I didn't understand it, and the thought of not understanding Fang, who I had always known like the back of my hand, was a very scary thing.

As I handed a woman her change and receipt, I heard running steps behind me. Assuming it was just some wild little kid, I wished the woman a good day and began ringing up the next customer. I'd barely gotten started, though, when I was grabbed from behind, then lifted into the air and spun around.

"What the--" I stopped when I saw who was holding me: Fang, wearing the biggest, brightest smile of his life.

I was totally confused. We were in the middle of a fight, our son was at home with Iggy because he was suspended, and we were dirt poor. So I could not, for the life of me, figure out what had caused this random burst of happiness.

"Fang, what is--" I began again, but then Fang did the most shocking thing of all. Right there, while my customer was still waiting for me to ring her up, with our boss only about fifty feet over, in the middle of that busy grocery store, he dipped me, way back, and gave me a very long kiss.

When we drew back a full minute later, both of us breathing hard, Fang still holding me only a couple feet above the ground, I whispered, "What was that?"

"I got a job," he said, the grin slowly stretching back across his face.

At that, I lost interest and rolled my eyes, pushing him back so I could stand upright. "Yes, Fang, I know. So do I, and we're both supposed to be doing them."

"No, I mean, like a real job!" he said. "As a columnist. At Tucson Weekly."

I stared at him. "No way."

"Yes way."

I couldn't even wrap my mind around it. Who would hire _Fang_? I mean, he had all of three months of schooling, he was seventeen, and he was an infamous mutant freak. Even if he had been looking for another job, which I knew he wasn't, I highly doubted he would be hired. "How?"

"This guy came through my line and read my name tag," he said excitedly, almost _hopping _up and down, as hard as that is to believe. "And he asked if I was the kid with the blog, and I said yeah--"

"Why'd you say yeah? He could have been after you!"

"Max." Fang took my shoulders and held me in front of him. "That guy was the editor at Tucson Weekly. And he loved my blog. So he hired me, on the spot."

"That's great!" I said, now beyond the paranoid I'd had when he said the guy knew who he was. I threw my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Marie, looking extremely displeased, bustling toward us, but I didn't care. She could fire us and it wouldn't matter, because one of us had an actual _job_. And we could provide for _ourselves_. Finally.

"How much are you gonna make?" I asked into Fang's shoulder.

"Thirty-five thousand a year," he said, a smile still in his voice.

I don't think I had ever been so happy before. It was like, after all this trouble, these seventeen years that included a horrific childhood, countless near-death situations, too much hiding, and absolutely no money or way to make it on our own in the world, something had finally gone right. And everything was looking up.

"Max," Marie said as she got close to us, at the exact moment the phone behind me rang. Figuring I should try to infuriate her before I was fired for good, I pulled away from Fang and picked it up, answering cheerily.

"Ms. Ride." I'd gotten used to talking to Dr. Clement on the phone, but his voice sounded different this time, and it unnerved me. Plus… Devin wasn't even there. What on earth could this be about?

"Yeah," I said, furrowing my brow. "It's me."

"I'm afraid we have a bad situation here," he said, and cleared his throat. "Gracie seems to have disappeared."

I stood, motionless, for a moment. Out of my peripheral vision, I became vaguely aware that Marie was ushering my long line somewhere else, her face growing more irritable by the second. "She what?"

Fang stepped closer, watching me carefully, as Dr. Clement said, "Gracie and the student teacher, Ms. Drison, went outside to recess but didn't come back in. We searched the playground and the immediate area around the school, but there's no trace of either of them."

I didn't need to find a trace of them to know what had happened. Brigid had kidnapped my little girl.

Not bothering to say goodbye, I slammed the phone back on the rocker and spun to poke an accusing finger at Fang's chest. "This is all _your_ fault!"

"Max, calm down," he said, catching my hand and encompassing it in his. "What's going on?"

"Gracie's _gone_," I snapped, and paused to register the shock, worry, and sudden paleness of his features. "And guess who else disappeared? Brigid! Do you think she's harmless _now_, Fang? Are you still gonna take her side now that she has our _daughter_?"

Without waiting for an answer, I brushed past him and ran toward the store's exit, only thinking about getting to my baby, even though I had no idea how I was going to do that.

**Oooh. Drama.**

**Review, please?**


	14. Chapter 13

"Go!" I yelled at Fang. "Go, go!"

"It's a red light, Max," he said flatly.

"Do I look like I _give_ a shit?" I demanded. "We don't have time for this! We need to go home and make sure Devin and Iggy are okay."

We'd only been driving for five minutes, but I was freaking out inside. I mean, a lot can happen in five minutes. And if I went home and found that stupid Brigid had abducted my other kid, well, we were going to have a problem.

_Finally_, the light changed to green, and Fang hit the gas, pealing across the intersection. I kept my eyes straight ahead, but I wasn't really seeing much, as my mind was racing too fast. I didn't know what I was going to do after we checked on Devin and Iggy, whether they were there or not. Well, obviously I had to go after Gracie. But I had no idea where--

_Hello, Max._

I actually yelped, having not heard the Voice invade my brain for three years now. Fang looked over at me as I sat there, holding a hand to my throat. "What is it?"

"Voice," I barely got out before it started talking again.

_All your suspicions were absolutely correct, Max. The nightmares were warnings, just like they were three years ago. Brigid was student teaching at your school to get to your kids, and, ultimately, to you._

_So what do I need to do? _I asked, ready for whatever it took.

_Go to the School. Gracie is being held there. This time, Max, you do need to dispose of Mr. Chu._

Despite my intense anger at Mr. Chu for kidnapping my daughter, I didn't feel all that comfortable with actually killing him. I mean… I wasn't a killer. Jeb had told me that, years ago, and it was true.

But then I remembered the last time I saw Mr. Chu, and how I told him that if he attacked my family again, I _would_ get rid of him. He had a second chance, and he blew it. I couldn't risk the well-being of my family any longer.

"What's it saying?" Fang asked, his voice considerably softer as we turned onto our street.

I bit my lip, then looked up. He was looking right into my face, still driving. I sighed and said, "She's at the School."

"I'm going with you this time," Fang said firmly, facing the road again.

I started to protest, then remembered Iggy could stay with the kids and watch them just as well as we could, even though he was blind. Then I remembered what the case had been three years ago: if I died, the rest of the flock, including Fang, would be safe. But this seemed different now that it was a question of Gracie's survival. It seemed like something Fang and I needed to do together.

_That's correct, Max. Good job._

I pushed open my door as we pulled into the driveway, hopping out before the car had even stopped. Fang was right on my heels as I hurried up the front steps, assessing the outside of the house for damage-- none so far.

Flinging the screen door open, I ran into the house and yelled, "Iggy? Devin?"

"What?" yelled Iggy irritably. "What are you doing here? I thought I was having my freedom for a few hours!"

"Where's Devin?" I yelled frantically. Fang came up behind me, putting his hands on my shoulders.

"I don't know," Iggy said grouchily, and a moment later he came down the hallway, still in his pajamas, rubbing his eye with his fist. "Why?"

"Devin?" I called, running past Iggy, toward the twins' room. "Devin!"

"Mommy?"

Devin emerged from his room, looking confused, and I swept him up in my arms as soon as I saw him, holding him tight against my chest. I squeezed my eyes shut, savoring this moment with my son, making no move to end it even when I heard Fang come up behind me.

"Mommy," Devin said again, wriggling in my arms. "What's wrong?"

I didn't reply, trying to figure out how to answer. How do you tell your six-year-old that his parents are leaving him and may not come back?

"Dev, Mommy and Daddy have to go somewhere," Fang said, reaching out and ruffling Devin's hair. I looked over my shoulder at him. We met each other's eyes, then nodded grimly: this was what we had to do.

"We have--" I started, but Fang cut me off.

"We were just checking to make sure you weren't giving Iggy any trouble, but we have to go back to work now."

I stared at him. What was he _doing_?

"Oh, okay," Devin said, cheering considerably. "I've been good today!"

"I know, baby," I said, blinking back tears. After exchanging another look with Fang, I had understood: he was only six. He should be spared this, have his childhood protected, just like Fang had been telling me for so long. This time, I agreed. "I love you."

"Love you too, Mommy."

I passed Devin off to Fang, clinging to him until the last possible second. Fang held his son close, closing his eyes.

"I love you," he murmured, and I almost lost it right there. Fang was getting better, but he still didn't tell the kids he loved them as often as I did. The fact that he was uttering those words, and the way he said it… oh, man.

"Love you too, Daddy," Devin said, and then, not understanding the seriousness of this situation, the weight it held as possibly the last time he would ever see his parents, he pulled back from Fang's embrace, jumped down, and darted back into his room. I watched him sit down and start playing with his toys, making no move to go anywhere until Fang nudged me.

"Come on," he said, and put his arm around my waist to pull me down the hallway.

"What is up with you two?" Iggy asked as he heard our footsteps get close. He had his arms crossed, a grouchy look upon his face. "You're cutting into my beauty sleep."

"Ig, Brigid has Gracie," I said quietly, not wanting Devin to hear us. Understanding immediately dawned on Iggy's face; I'd filled him in on my suspicions of the student teacher the previous night, when he came in to ask what was up with Fang and I. "She's holding her at the School. We're going to get her. You've gotta hold down the fort."

Iggy nodded. "Will do."

Something suddenly occurred to me, something I'd completely forgotten about in all this chaos. "Tell my mom and Ella what happened, and… and let them know I love them."

"Okay."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and hugged him tightly, and he hugged me back. "Take care of everyone."

"I will, Max," he sighed, and lightly kissed the top of my head. Then he gently pushed me back. "Now, go get Gracie and kick Brigid's sorry butt."

I laughed and stepped back so he and Fang could exchange a quick man-hug. Then Fang and I met each other's eyes and came to an agreement: it was time to head out.

**There they go!**

**Review?**


	15. Chapter 14

**Guess what!**

**After this, there's one more chapter and an epilogue. And then we're already on part three of the trilogy! It seems like yesterday that I began writing Becoming You and Me… okay, so it was in October, not **_**that**_** long ago, but still…**

By the time we approached the School, night was had fallen. We were tired and hungry, but that didn't stop me from wanting to immediately charge in and get Gracie.

"_No_, Max," Fang told me firmly. "It's safer in the daylight."

"It is not!" I said indignantly, angling my wings so I turned to face him. "They're more likely to see us."

"But in the daytime, there's just a bunch of defenseless scientists. At night, they have security people," Fang said slowly, like he was talking to a four-year-old. "Let's wait until morning."

"And what do you suggest we do until morning?" I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest and looking below us at the huge, sinister building that held our daughter.

"Get some dinner and hunker down somewhere," he said easily, holding out a hand to me. After a moment of hesitation, I reached out and took it, and we started flying north. I closed my eyes to take in the exhilaration of flying at night with the person I loved the most, taking deep breaths of the cool, crisp air.

Thirty minutes later, we spotted a small town down below and descended into the woods behind it. We ducked into a small, mostly deserted burger joint for dinner and freaked the waitress out with our enormous orders. As we ate our first meal since breakfast, we didn't say much, because our mouths were constantly full.

"So," I said finally, after finishing my third burger. "Glad you took Gracie to school today?"

Fang sighed and put down the French fry he was holding. "Do you want to fight, or do you want to work together to save her?"

Well, the latter, but I still had some bitterness to get out. "Brigid probably figured she'd have to be creative about kidnapping Gracie. Bet she was pleasantly surprised when we brought her _right to her_."

"Max," Fang said, and something about his voice-- probably the fact that it wasn't sharp or raised, but broken-- made me look up at him. There was an expression of such pain and misery on his face that my heart actually ached. "I know I messed up. I've been beating myself up since we got the call from the school. So just… stop, okay?"

Then I felt terrible, watching the obvious hurt on his face, the hurt I had caused. He really did feel awful about what happened to Gracie, and I was just making it worse. "Fang, I'm sorry," I said, getting up out of my side of the booth and sliding in next to him. I wrapped my arms around him, pressing my cheek into his shoulder. "I really am. I was being a jerk." After a moment, I felt him relax in my arms and lean his head against mine. "We're gonna get her," I whispered, doing the reassuring for once. "We are."

0000000000

"This is too easy," Fang said the next morning, looking at the open window hovering in front of us. "Are you sure this is safe?"

I had the same suspicions, but the Voice insisted that the easy entrance was not a trap, but a bit of help for us. The only reason I believed it was the fact that the last time I was here, the Voice had told me the same thing, and it had turned out to be trustworthy. "The Voice says it is."

Fang sighed. "Alright, then. Ladies first."

I scowled at the sexist stereotype, but tucked in my wings and flew skillfully through the window, Fang right behind me. We landed in a room of cages containing every genetic experiment imaginable. It'd been so long since we'd been in a room like this, but it was still eerily familiar, sending a shiver down my spine.

"Which way?" I whispered, looking around the room for anything that looked like a security camera, laser, etc.

It took a second for Fang to reply, but then he said, "Neither."

I turned to look at him quizzically, but he was pointing at a cage not two feet away from us. Pale hands were gripping the bars, and when my eyes followed the arms up to the shoulders and the face, I saw my little girl.

Gracie's face was tear-streaked, the palest I'd ever seen, what with the olive coloring she'd inherited from Fang. After only a day at the School, her curls had become limp and flat, and she was not the bubbly child I loved so much.

"Mommy!" she shrieked, and I immediately shushed her, rushing over to kneel in front of her cage.

"Shh, shh," I whispered, reaching through the bars to close my hand over hers. "Quiet, sweetheart. Don't let them hear you."

"They're scary," Gracie whimpered, beginning to shake with sobs. Fang started messing with the lock as I bit my lip and tried to deal with not being able to hold my daughter when she was in pain. Let me tell you, it was killing me.

Suddenly, the whole cage jerked upward. Fang and I scrambled to our feet and stared, open-mouthed, as it rose in the air, being pulled by a thick black wire. The ceiling opened up, and my stomach sank as I realized that Gracie was about to disappear inside it.

"Nice try, Maximum," came a voice somewhere above me. "Maybe next time."

**Does anyone else think the guy who plays Percy Jackson is hot?**

**Review?**


	16. Chapter 15

**Last regular chapter! Than an epilogue. And then You and Me Forever, which I promise is not as predictable as this story. Some definite twists and turns in that one.**

**If you read Becoming You and Me, then you know that my action scenes… suck. So bear with me on this one. There's a father-daughter moment, if that compensates…?**

**I don't remember the last time I put a disclaimer, so here it is: I do not own Maximum Ride or any of the characters in this story except for Gracie and Devin.**

I growled and spread my wings, launched myself into the air, and managed to grab one of the bars of the cage. From inside it, Gracie was screaming in terror and sobbing, and it made me want to do the same. Instead, as we got closer to the ceiling and whatever lay beyond it, I murmured reassurances as I held tight to the cage with one hand and used the other to fumble with the lock.

Below me, I heard buttons beeping as Fang frantically tried to find one that would put a stop to our little round of air travel. Everything was happening at one time, all so fast, and it all got to me at one time as I drew back my fist and _pounded_ the lock with everything I had.

It broke and fell to the floor, the cage door swinging open.

At almost the exact same moment, a chorus of beeps erupted from the control panel, and the wire snapped, sending the cage and I tumbling to the floor. I landed on my back, and the cage, with Gracie somehow still in it, landed on my leg.

"Ow," I groaned, lifting it off my leg. Fang ran over and knelt beside me as I positioned myself in front of the cage. I held out my arms, expecting Gracie to crawl right into them, but instead she shrunk back, crying even harder than before.

"Grace," I called softly, coaxing, "come on out. It's okay."

"No," she cried. "No, they'll hurt me."

My heart split apart in my chest, and then I was filled with rage-- great, uncontrollable rage, that someone had inflicted such pain and fear upon my daughter. As soon as she was safe, I was going to find Mr. Chu and finish him off, once and for all.

"Gracie," said a very soft, very gentle voice beside me, one I didn't recognize. When I turned my head, though, it was indeed Fang, and he was reaching into the cage, all the way to the back, and taking a hold of Gracie. "Come here, sweet girl."

As I watched in awe, Gracie let Fang pull her out of the cage, no protests, only some indistinct murmurings as she rubbed her eye with her fist. Fang settled her in his lap, tucking her head into his chest. I moved closer and smoothed my hand over Gracie's head, relieved when I felt her muscles relax slightly.

"Well. Isn't this touching."

There came that voice that I couldn't locate. I twisted around wildly, looking for it.

"Here's a hint, Max: I'm not there."

Four simultaneous thuds suddenly sounded on the floor, and I whirled to see four Erasers-- so they _were_ back!-- who had appeared out of that hole in the ceiling. A second later, Mr. Chu joined them. He was standing there in a suit, looking smug, like he controlled the entire world and nobody could stop him.

"Fang," I said briskly, not even looking back at him. "I got this."

He knew better than to argue when I was this serious. I launched myself at the first Eraser and had him knocked out with a couple good roundhouse kicks to the jaw. The second was just as easy, but the third one gave me some trouble.

As I charged him, he reached out and grabbed my arm, twisting it behind my back. My breath left me, but I managed to break out of his grip and deliver a hard punch to his jaw. He kicked me, hard, in the stomach, and when I fell to the floor, he put his foot to my throat, pressing down a little but not quite enough to kill me.

I felt the life draining out of me and breathing became more and more of a task. My eyes fluttered shut a couple times, and I had to fight to keep them open. Finally I just wanted him to break my neck, get it over with--

"Mommy!"

There was no difficulty in snapping my eyes open when I heard the helpless wail. What was I _doing_? I couldn't give up now and abandon my family. They needed me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the other remaining Eraser catch sight of Fang and Gracie for the first time. A look of malice came into his eyes as he started toward them, and I kicked the one holding me down, needing to defend them.

As I sprang to my feet, I saw Fang tuck Gracie into one arm and turn his other side to the Eraser, preparing to fight and protect her at the same time. I helped him by jumping on the Eraser's back and swiftly kicking the base of his spine, the flaw in his design, making him fall to the ground with a grunt.

With my fresh adrenaline pumping, it took me maybe thirty more seconds to get them both passed out, so it was just us and Chu.

Fang, still holding Gracie, backed away. A slow smile spread across my face as anger at all the threats to me and my family and my children rose up like a flame. This would be easy.

I launched myself at Mr. Chu, knocking him to the floor and closing my hands around his neck. He started gasping, the life slowly draining from his eyes. I didn't want to kill; I wasn't a killer, but my anger was too great, my family too precious to risk.

"Any last words, Chuey?" I asked, watching his face become whiter and whiter.

I waited, watching his lips start to shape a word. I figured it would be something like, "You have not won yet!", but it wasn't. Instead, he muttered, "Get. Them."

I didn't understand until I suddenly remember Fang and Gracie, forgotten as I attacked our enemy, and spun to find them. Fang was carrying Gracie, and they were near the open window we'd come through. Someone was blocking their way, though.

And that someone was Brigid Dwyer, a knife extended, just daring them to step closer.

I looked from Brigid to Mr. Chu and back again, trying to decide what to do. If I continued to strangle Chu, Brigid would hurt Fang and Gracie. And if I went to take her out, she'd do the same.

_Left, Max._

I blinked as the Voice suddenly chimed in. Left? Left _what_?

_Look to your left._

I did. And to my left, I saw a cigarette lighter, laying on the ground, just waiting for someone to pick it up. Fang looked at me, and I nodded very slightly, giving him the okay.

In the next instant, I was reaching for the lighter and Fang was swinging his leg upward, kicking Brigid in the jaw, snapping her head back hard. He managed to hold onto Gracie the whole time, and when Brigid fell to the ground, he quickly leaped out the window.

I looked down to check on Mr. Chu. He was still struggling, bleary, barely able to move. Raising my chin in satisfaction, I gave him one last stomp on his stomach and began to look for something flammable, which turned out to be a frayed cord next to one of the cages. I lit the end of it, and the flames immediately shot up, almost licking the ceiling.

Then I ran to the window, but just before I jumped out, I turned around and took one last look at Brigid and Mr. Chu, both laying on the floor, the fire spreading quickly across the room. I didn't want to do this. But I had to.

"Bye," I said softly, and then left, spreading my wings and pumping hard to reach Fang and Gracie, two winged figures about a hundred yards away. I never looked back at the School; I just kept going, racing toward my family, where I belonged.

**Second-to-last review?**


	17. Epilogue

**Guess what?**

**I JUST finished writing You and Me Forever. Like, seriously, three minutes ago, I finished the epilogue. And so, to celebrate, I am uploading this final chapter mere hours after my last update. Look for YAMF tomorrow or Monday, maybe Tuesday.**

**Thanks so much for reading this story. If people weren't reading this stuff and enjoying it, then I wouldn't be writing it. Some of you have been reading this trilogy since the beginning of Becoming You and Me, and I want to thank you guys especially-- seeing the same reviewers in my e-mail all the time is really cool, it means people read my stuff and keep coming back for more.**

**And so, without further ado, enjoy your epilogue!**

"Max, Max, Maaaaax!"

I blinked blearily, at first seeing nothing but the bright, spring Arizona sky framed in my window. Then my eyes focused on the faces above mine: Angel and Nudge.

"Hey, guys," I yawned, sitting up and stretching. "What's up?"

"It's Easter, remember?" Angel asked excitedly, grabbing my hands to pull me out of bed.

"We helped Fang set up the egg hunt for Gracie and Devin," Nudge said. "We're just waiting for you before they start."

"Why?" I asked, following the girls as they skipped excitedly toward my bedroom door. "I mean, does it really matter whether I'm there or not?"

I didn't miss the look Nudge and Angel exchanged, the quick smiles flashing across their faces. I narrowed my eyes and was about to demand an answer when they both giggled and ran ahead, leaving me to roll my eyes and follow them.

In the living room, I found lots of pastel-colored plastic eggs, courtesy of my mom, scattered around the room while the flock lounged around on the furniture. Fang smiled when he saw me and patted the space next to him. I went over and cuddled into his side, pressing a small kiss to his shoulder.

"Can we go yet, Daddy?" Gracie asked, hopping from foot to foot impatiently. The hem of her Easter dress-- also courtesy of my mother-- was in her hands so she could place her eggs in the skirt. Beside her, Devin was looking around, obviously itching to get started.

"Yeah," Fang told her, settling back in the couch. "Go ahead."

The twins wasted no time in rushing around the living room, grabbing eggs off the coffee table, the top of the TV, the floor, and everywhere else. I noticed that long after the other eggs had been cleared off the coffee table in front of me, a pink one remained in plain sight, and wondered how they both could have missed it.

Finally, Gracie and Devin were on different sides of the room, popping open their eggs and happily chomping on the candy inside. The rest of the flock was talking, but their conversations kept pausing, as if waiting for something, and I suddenly realized that everyone kept glancing at me. Having a feeling that it had something to do with that forgotten pink egg, I said, "Hey, guys, I think you missed one."

Gracie looked up at me and beamed, her teeth stained from chocolate. "We didn't miss it."

"It's for you," Devin added.

"For me?" I reached forward to take the egg, but Fang swiftly moved from beside me and picked it up before I did.

"Allow me," he said when I looked up at him, confused. As I continued to stare at him, he popped open the plastic egg, and then he was on one knee.

Oh my gosh.

Holy freaking cow.

My hand flew to my mouth, but I didn't, couldn't, say anything. Instead, I just watched, my heart pounding, as Fang tilted the egg so I could see what was inside: a ring, a band with three small diamonds centered on it. Simple, but perfect.

"Max," he began, taking my hand. "I love you so much. _So_ much. You're the only person I want to spend the rest of my life with. Maximum, will you marry me?" In his eyes, those deep, dark, emotionless eyes I knew so well, I saw only complete and utter love and adoration.

As the tears started to flow, I slid off the couch and onto Fang's knee. He took the ring out of the plastic Easter egg and put it on my finger, where it caught a bit of sunlight and glittered as a result.

"I love you," he said, pulling me in for a kiss.

"I love you too," I mumbled against his mouth.

The flock, who I'd totally forgotten about, started clapping and yelling out happily. And then, while Fang and I were still kissing, the six other people in the room, the six who completed my big happy family, threw their arms around us so we were entwined in this huge group hug.

As I broke away from Fang and caught another glimpse of the ring on my finger, I smiled at the reminder that we'd just sealed the promise Fang had made me that day on the boat on the way to Antarctica, years ago:

There will _always_ be a you and me.

**How about one last review for this story? Please? : D**


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